Left to 'reach a consensus' with government on nuke deal: Karat

BHOPAL: The CPI-M on Wednesday said efforts were on to 'reach a consensus' with the UPA government over the Indo-US nuclear deal in the next two rounds of talks and there was 'nothing wrong' in Congress chief Sonia Gandhi's reference to Left concerns over the deal in her speech in New York.

She (Gandhi) has said nothing wrong. She said there are issues (relating to the deal) on which discussions are going on. We have to respect different views," party General Secretary Prakash Karat said.

Speaking at a gathering of Indian-Americans in New York on Monday, Gandhi had sought to play down Left's concerns on the deal, saying they were not a cause for 'alarm'.

Karat admitted that 'differences' existed between the UPA Government and the Left parties, providing crucial outside support to the ruling coalition, over the deal, and said 'we are trying to reach a consensus.'

Asked when is the UPA-Left combine expected to reach a consensus on the deal, Karat said 'the (UPA-Left) committee would be meeting on October 5, when the date for next meeting will also be decided.'

"We are trying to arrive at a consensus on the deal in the next two meetings."

On his party's stand on the nuclear agreement, CPI (M) leader pointed out 'the party had made it clear during its recent Central Committee meeting that the government should not take the next step on the deal. Any move should be made only after discussions in Parliament.'

To a specific query, the senior Communist leader said, "It (Left's stand on the deal) is not pressure politics. It (the deal) is an important question before the nation."

"We are entering into an agreement for 40 years, we believe the deal is not in the interest of the country," he added.

He was here to attend a condolence meet organised in the memory of Madhya Pradesh CPI-M Secretary BS Dhakad.